SP:  You started your playing career in the mid 1930's, correct?

BM:  Yes, I grew up in Florida, in a town called Umatilla, which is north of Orlando. I started playing semi-pro ball in local town leagues when I was only 12 years old, back around 1929. I could hit pretty well I was a teenager: I ended up batting about .650 through high school. Then I went to college in Cochran, Georgia, and I hit well there too. I batted around .450. We had a good team there.  One of my teammates was a guy named Newton "Gashouse" Parker, who later played in a lot of pro leagues, all the way into the 1950s. Before he was drafted, he hit 31 homers in 36 games over the course of two seasons.  After college, I signed with the Macon Peaches. They had their own farm teams that had working agreements with them, so they sent me to their teams in Leesburg, Florida,  and then to Palatka, Florida. I guess for some reason, Palatka decided to release me but I didn't know it and the word didn't get out through the proper channels. I got called up to Macon and was expecting to play. They had a manager there who had played with the St. Louis Cardinals, a guy named Milt Stock.  He was planning on pitching me as soon as I got there, then he found out I was released.  All he could do was to say he was sorry, but there wasn't anything he could do about it. I was out of a job. That was a hard way to find out. 

SP:  So you were a pitcher at that time.

BM:  Well, let me put it this way:  They made me become a pitcher.  I had good control and good stuff, and anyone who had good command over the ball became a pitcher.  I had always planned to be an outfielder.  I could hit pretty well and had a good batting average wherever I played.  On my first professional at bat at Leesburg, I pinch-hit for a fellow and hit a triple.

SP:  Looking at your records, I see that you played from 1936 to 1938, then there is a gap for 1939-40.  Did you play ball during those years?

BM:  Well, a little bit.  I mostly was working at a cotton mill up in Georgia.  I had gotten married in 1939 and went to work like regular folks.  I played semi-pro ball in the mill leagues after work. Well, one night I go to play ball after working, and the manager says that I'm going to pitch.  I told him I was tired from work and not ready, but he gave me the ball anyway.  See, there was a scout from the Boston Red Sox in the stands who came there to check me out.  Well, wouldn't you know it, I pitched to only 27 men and threw a perfect game! That scout told me he'd never heard of an instance where a pitcher threw a perfect game while he was being scouted.

SP:  So did that scout sign you right there?

BM:  Well, he asked me to go to the North Carolina League, up to Greensboro, North Carolina.  I went up there and after about a week, they wanted to get me to sign.  I asked them for a $2000 bonus to sign, and they said that since I was subject to the draft for World War II, they couldn't give me a signing bonus.  I said, "Well then, goodbye!". I wasn't going to sign without some guaranteed money.  So, after that I came back home and late in the year, I signed with Dothan. That was  late in the summer of 1941.  The season was close to over, so I was signed pretty much to get them through the playoffs. I pitched into the playoffs and won a few games for the Browns.  We had started the playoffs in 4th place, but we ended up Alabama State League champions.  Holt Milner was the manager of that Dothan team.  He was a old-time  baseball guy, a good guy.  I didn't pal around with him or anything, but he was okay with me. He was a short guy, probably no more than 150 pounds.

SP:  The Browns had some good players that year. Who do you remember from that team?

BM:  Well, Luke Gunnells was a pretty good hitter and shortstop.  Ed Mitchell was another good one.  Milner drove in a bunch of runs. I think he just was an experienced ballplayer in a Class D league.  Joe Rivers was a good pitcher. He won 20 games for them.

SP:  Do you remember Charleston Jones or Wally Williams?  They were also good pitchers on that team.

BM:  I remember them, but not much about them.  Playing ball was different back then.  When I played in Leesburg, we played only day games.  There were no lights at the ballpark. Now in 1942, Dothan went to the Georgia-Florida League, so I played with the same team, but in a different league.  Holt Milner was the manager again that season, and his son was on the team too.  Roy Knapp was our centerfielder.  I remember that Roy and I went to a big football game between his old high school and my old high school at Wiregrass Stadium. There was a guy that season who played for Tallahassee named Sonny Groat.  He was an Indian from somewhere up around the Great Lakes.  He and I had played together when I was in Leesburg and we were good friends.

SP:  You were their star pitcher that year.

BM:  I had a good year, I guess.  I pitched in over 40 games, won 18 and lost 12.  My ERA was under 3.00. That Dothan team was 8th in the league in batting average and 7th in the league in fielding!

SP:  You had to work hard for those 18 wins.

BM:  I sure did!  I remember a teammate of mine named Bill Hair. He was a pretty good pitcher on that 1942 team.  Let me tell you a story about him: We were playing a double header against Waycross and in the first game, I shut them out 4-0. They barely got anybody on base at all.  Second game, Bill comes out and walks the bases loaded on 12 straight pitches!  I did hit a home run in that second game though.  I shot one past the outfielders and it just rolled and rolled.  I was past third base when the finally caught up with it. I wasn't a fast runner neither. Of course, they didn't measure things like they do now.  Back in those days, they didn't have a radar gun to tell you how fast you threw the ball or how fast you ran. They just cared about your control.

SP:  You were an All-star in 1942.

BM:  Yes, I was the only pitcher from Dothan selected.  We played the All-star game in Valdosta, Georgia.  It was Valdosta against the rest of the league.  I was the starting pitcher and the winner of that game too.  Valdosta didn't score any runs off of me that game. My catcher was a fellow from Waycross named Al Leitz.  I've got a picture of that All-star team.  It's just about the only clipping or photo from my career that I held on to.

SP:  Was it exciting for you to start the All-star game?

BM:  No sir.  I was just another game to me. I mean that I played it the way I played every game.  I went out there and did my best. You know, we didn't get paid nothing to play in the All-star game.  I guess we didn't think of it they way they do today.

SP:  Did you play much after 1942?

BM:  Sure, I played semi-pro for a team here in Umatilla in the Lake Orange League.  They had teams in Orlando, Winter Garden, Eustis, Deltona, Apoka,  Leesburg, places like that.  I played ball for quite a few years in semi-pro leagues. I hit .426 one year and I was in my late 40s! I kept playing ball until I was about 55 years old. The young guys would ask the manager, "Hey, why you let that old guy play?" , and he'd tell them "Because he still can!".  You know, I'm 86 years old and I still farm.  I grew peanuts with my father-in-law for a number of years.  He had what we called a "12-horse farm".  We farmed about 300 acres of peanuts a year. These days, I grow grass for hay and have some cows.  I'm lucky, I guess. You know, every day is a good day when you get to be my age!

I received an email some time ago asking me to call Bob Maxwell and interview him about his career.  I talked to Mr. Maxwell in 2003 and found him to be a humble and delightful gentleman. Bob was 86 at the time of the interview, and still worked everyday on his farm.  His pro career was short, but Bob played semi-pro ball well into his 50s!